Page 115 - RusRPTNov18

Following the 3Q18 results, the company upgraded its 2018 its 2018 guidance from 30-35% revenue growth to 35-38%, while raising Search and Portal revenue growth has been raised from 20-22% to 21-23%. As for the Sberbank takeover rumours "during the 3Q18 conference call, Yandex reiterated its previous statement on the recent media speculation about potential changes in the company’s shareholder structure, but did not really provide any new colour or details, in our view," VTB wrote in a separate note on October 29. In VTB's view, Yandex does not fully address the market’s recent concerns, which might weigh over the stock, although in the short term the concerns might give way to strong fundamentals showed in the 3Q18. During the conference call the management also stressed that Yandex.Drive has become the second largest car sharing service in Europe and the third largest in the world since its launch in February 2018. "According to management, the likely reason for its success was the Yandex.Auto platform: the in-dash infotainment system which integrates all Yandex 's services in the dashboard of a car," VTB wrote, adding that Yandex to plans to expand the service and launch in St Petersburg in December 2018.
Co-founder and the largest shareholder of internet major Yandex Arcady Volozh does not intend to sell his stake in Russia's most valuable digital company, Yandex said on October 22. The announcement follows unconfirmed reports that Russia's largest bank state-controlled Sberbank is staging a creeping takeover of Yandex . Risks of possible state control of Yandex scared investors, with its shares dropping by 24% in two days on NASDAQ and Moscow Exchange, cutting capitalisation from $11.8bn to $9bn. Volozh controls 10.35% of the company's capital and 49.2% of the voting rights, while other co-founders together with Volozh control 57% of the votes. Other large shareholders include company's veteran Vladimir Ivanov (3.83% of capital and 6.23% of votes) and the US WMC (5.12% and 2.46%).
Russia's Yandex.Taxi service will acquire 83.3% in homemade dinner and food products delivery service Partiya Edi , Vedomosti d aily reported on October 18. The remaining 16.7% will be controlled by current co-owners Mikhail Peregudov, Vladimir Cherkashin, and Philipp Bashyan. Partiya Edi (Eda is Russian for food) is one of the largest food delivery services in Moscow and St Petersburg with over 0.2mn deliveries in September 2018 alone. Most of the service's clients have subscriptions for regular deliveries. The company had revenues of RUB141.5mn in 2017. The acquisition expands food delivery assets controlled by Yandex , which now include Yandex.Eda and Edadeal coupon and delivery service. Yandex.Eda controls, in particular, the Russian division of UberEATS and the food delivery service Foodfox, which Yandex.Taxi acquired in November 2017. The Russian food delivery market has been heating up with a series of recent investment, merger and acquisition deals over the past year. These deals involved, in particular, Mail.Ru Group (acquisition of Delivery Club and ZakaZaka) and Mitsui (investment in ChefMarket).
Russia’s new Beru online marketplace launched Zdorovye (Health) sub-section, which sells pharmaceuticals and other pharmacy-related products, Vedomosti d aily reported on October 11 citing the announcement of Yandex.Market. Beru can both deliver the purchases, while certain prescription categories are made available for pick-up at Zdravcity pharmacy chains. The assortment of pharmaceutical products on the platform is planned to reach 70,000 names by the end of the year and expand its geography from the Moscow region to all of Russia. Another online retailer Ozon obtained a licence
115 RUSSIA Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com